Use of musical works

What are musical works?

Musical works include compositions such as sheet music, tablatures and other musical notations. The rightsholders of musical works are composers, arrangers and music publishers. 

The rightsholders of performances and recordings of musical works are singers, musicians and sound producers. Performing artists and sound producers have what are known as related rights under copyright law.

When music is used in performances and recordings, it is often necessary to obtain permission from both the creators of the music (composers and music publishers) and the performing artists and sound producers involved. For private gatherings within family and close friends, no special permission is required to use music. However, permission is almost always required for public performances of music. 

Use of musical works in education

Sheet music

Sheet music is not covered by any of the copyright exceptions and permission must always be obtained specifically to copy musical notation. It is recommended where possible for choirs and orchestras to purchase original published copies of appropriate scores for all their members.

Performing musical works

Under the copyright exception for education, teachers and students are free to perform musical works within their school/college provided no members of the public are present.

For performances to a wider audience, permission from rightsholders (composers and music publishers) is necessary.

Playing recordings of musical works

Music recordings can be played in a classroom to enhance learning under the educational copyright exception.

The copyright exception supersedes the restriction to personal use of commercial streaming services purely for educational purposes within a school/college.

Recording musical performances

The Copyright Act allows for the recording of a teacher’s or student’s performance for temporary use in education, such as for assessment purposes. The recording must not be used for other purposes.

To record a performance of a musical work as a long-term record or to share outside the school/college, whether for a fee or for free, requires permission from the rightsholders – composers and music publishers.

Use of music in self-produced videos

To save music and add it to a video or other production, such as in the background of a PowerPoint presentation, for purposes other than private use or under the copyright exception for education, requires permission from the music’s rights holder. Adding music to a video or other production is called synchronization.

Generally, adding music to a video is considered copying and requires permission from the rightsholder of the music, but under the copyright exception for education music can be copied and used in class for educational purposes. Videos created under the educational exception cannot be disseminated beyond the school/college.

Several video editing programs include their own music and sound effects libraries, which can be used in the user’s own videos. In such cases, the content of the usage rights in the editing program’s terms of use should be reviewed. There are also websites with music and sound effects that are not covered by copyright, whose music and sound effects usually have some kind of open licence such as a Creative Commons licence.

Please note that the public dissemination of a video and sharing it online, for example on the educational institution’s website, social media channels, or blog, requires permission from the music’s rightsholder. However, some platforms, like YouTube and Facebook, have agreed blanket licences with many music rightsholders, including Universal, Warner and Sony.

MCPSI Schools limited manufacture licence

The schools limited manufacture licence from MCPSI grants permission to produce products such as CDs and DVDs of recordings of student performances containing up to 120 minutes of music. The licence can be obtained via ICLA.